ESP Commitment Form | ESP
Contacts |ESP Principles|
ESP
Campus Members | ESP
Leadership Team | ESP Professional Events
Campus Planning Workshop | Conference and Seminars
Membership Fees |ESP Journal | Requirements for ESP Members
Welcome to the Effective Schools
Project
Developing the Building Blocks of Education
2007 - 2008 Project Year
Approved by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) as provider of Continuing Professional Education (CPE)
Initiated in 1988, Tarleton State University's Effective Schools Project (ESP) has evolved into one of the nation's largest and longest-running school-improvement ventures. With the Effective Schools research as its foundation, ESP us a school improvement network linking the Tarleton faculty with campus leadership teams from over fifty Texas schools in an ongoing effort to enhance school effectiveness. Since its inception, ESP has partnered with 216 different public schools campuses and Education Service Centers to provide comprehensive professional development opportunities for educators.
New Member Orientation
New ESP members attend the half-day Orientation Seminar in September of each year. This seminar enables new members to meet Tarleton faculty who work with the project and acquaints our newest members with the research framework and operational procedures of the project.
All services are available for the basic membership fee of $600 per campus. The fee allows the campus to send a three-member leadership team to all of the conferences and seminars as well as to receive all other services.
The ESP Journal is the official publication of the Effective Schools Project. The state-wide journal is dedicated to the dissemination of information, ideas and research among the participates in ESP, as well as other interested educators. Published annually, each issue of the journal focuses on a particular theme, but consideration is given to non-thematic articles.
Participation in ESP is voluntary. In order to participate in the project, each campus agrees to the following:
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Development of campus leadership team which is
integrated with and representative of other existing campus instructional
committees and/or planning groups, |
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Regular attendance at ESP meetings and
seminars, |
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Principal attendance at an orientation meeting for schools new to ESP |
In March, ESP leadership teams are invited to attend a two-day planning workshop. This spring retreat has become one of the most anticipated and valued events of the project year. During the workshop, school leadership teams are able to evaluate their school year-to-date, to reflect on the research and other information received at ESP conferences, to refine their campus improvement plan or other school operations, and to exchange ideas, goals, and triumphs with other campus teams.
Professional development conferences and seminars are at the heart of ESP. These events provide members with current educational research, theories, and policies while emphasizing campus implementation and classroom instruction. The conference format includes a keynote speaker and breakout sessions. Seminars draw upon the expertise of state and national consultants. An Advisory Committee of teachers, principals, and superintendents recommends topics and speakers, helping ESP respond to campus and district needs and concerns. The professional development series is organized around school improvement themes broadly associated with one or more of the correlates of effective schools. This year's theme is Learning for All.
A member of The Texas A&M University System since 1917
Tarleton State University, an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative
Action Employer and Educator, is committed to excellence through
diversity.